Valve for automobile body heaters



Oct. 28, 1952 E. LuDLow 2,615,669

VALVE Foa AUTOMOBILE BODY HEATERS Filed July e, 1949 2 swammw 1 fam/ zum E. LUDLOW VALVE FOR AUTOMOBILE BODY HEATERS oa. `2s, 1952 2 SHEETS- SHEET 2 Filed July 8, 1949 #Winx f INVENTOR. @Mz/@Zuw n;

Patented Oct. 28, l1952 i, I l 2,615,669 i i vALvEijon srifroMoBILE Bonr HEATERS f saumurk `Imaam.'- Cammina,I Ind... assigner to I Arvin Industries, Inc., a corporation `of AIndiana This invention relates" to yautomobile-'body heating andventlatingsystems, and more `particularly to a valve and'valve-operating-1means for controlling air flow in such' a" system. Itis an object of the invention to provide afsimple and inexpensive valve and valve mounting. and to associate with such valve an operating means of simple construction adaptedr for operation by a conventional vBowden wire extending to a remote point. y i l In carrying out the invention itspreferred form I employ .a valve intheiorxn of a vane which is pivotally mounted in Aa housing or conduit, desirably on an axis `displaced from kthe plane of the vane. Thevane is provided'with' an ear which extends across theaxis of mounting and is in turn provided with. ia, non-circular opening to receive slidably a valve-operatorlmovable longitudinally Vof .itself along thewaxis of valve mounting. The valve-.operator isfoftnoncircular cross-section corresponding to the lshape of the opening in the ear and is yslidably received in the wall ofthe conduit `or'valvelhousing in an opening which is also non-circular, wherebyth'e operator, as .it moves longitudinally of kitselLY-*remains in a constant condition of orientation relative of the valve-axis. That part of the operator which moves through the ear as the operator moves longitudinally is twisted, with the result that longitudinal movement of the operator causes the valve to swing about its axis. The operator may be moved through any convenient means, but is adapted for control by a Bowdenwire extending to a remote control point.

The accompanying drawing illustrates the invention: Fig. 1 is a vertical section on the line of Fig. 2 through an automobile-body heater in which my invention has been embodied; Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a fragmental plan view of the heater with portions of the valve housing broken away to illustrate the construction more clearly; Fig. 4 is a fragmental vertical section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3; and Fig. 5 is a fragmental isometric view illustrating a detail of construction.

The heater illustrated in the drawing, which is of a type more fully illustrated and described in my copending application Serial No. 85,367 filed April 4, 1949, comprises a casing |01 having an air-admitting opening I in its lower wall. With- 1 in the casing there is disposed an electrical motor I2 arranged to drive two air-impelling elements, one a conventional propeller type fan I3 and the other a blower-rotor I5 located within a blower scroll-housing IB. Associated with the air-adv l H mitting opening |'|,"there 'is' a lheat-exchangi-ng core I8, adopted for fconnection linto 'the coolant ycirculating system ofv the automobile engine, `by means of which air entering the'icasing and the passingv to the' ian I3 and blower-rotor I5" is warmed The' scroll housing |61 has an outlet neck 20 disposed to discharge upwardly into-a housing 2| 'securedfto'th'e' upper Wall`Y of 'the cas'- ing I0, conveniently near a :front corner'thereoi. The housing '2 lis providedin its'upper'wall with apair'of outlet nipples 22 adapted for connection to iiexible conduits extending yto remote points, as `-todefroster nozzles located adjacent the automobile windshield; The housing'zl continues rearwardly beyondf the outlet-neck' *'20'1' oiy the blower-'housing I6 andis provided .in its outer `side wall with an air outlet opening 24. Therear wall and the top'wall vrif the 'housing v'l I -may-'continue outwardly beyond the opening 24, 'asindicated lat 25 andfZG-Jin Fig..:3, to direct :air ydischarged through Sthe/opening 24 toward vthe v'feet ofthe driverf'oftheautomobile#` 'It is theL purpose of my invention 'as vembodied in the heater described to providea valve `andra valve operating .means adjustable `todivi'de between the opening 24 and the outlet nipples 2'2 the heated air which is discharged into the housing 2| through the outlet-neck 20 of the blowerhousing I6. For this purpose, there is provided within the housing y2| a flap valve, designated in its entirety by the reference numeral 28, which is pivotally mounted for swinging movement between the full-line and dotted-line positions indicated in Fig. 4. In its full-line position, the valve 28 extends vertically across the housing 2| ahead of the opening 24 and restricts the iiow of air to such opening. In its dotted-line position, the valve is'interposed between the outlet neck 20 and the discharge nipples 2'2 and hence restricts the supply of airto the discharge nipples. It is usually not essential that the valve effect a complete closure in either of its limiting positions of adjustment; but substantially complete closure is desirable when the valve is in its vertical position, because of the pressure required yto force air through conduit connected to the nipples 22.

The particular valve shown in the drawing comprises a pair of sheet-metal stampings 29 and 30 between which there is clamped a strip of felt or similar material 3| providing an effective seal and minimizing the possibility of rattling. The stamping 30, which lies` at the front face of the valve, isvprovided at its ends with forwardly extending ears 32 and 33 and near its center with a.y third ear' 34, all such ears being aligned. The ear 33 and the adjacent side wall oi' the housing 2| are provided with aligned openings for the reception of a rivet or equivalent element 35 affording a pivotal connection. The ear 32 is provided with an opening rotatably receiving (see Fig. 53) a bushing 36 having a i'iange 31 disposed between the ear 32 and the adjacent side wall of the housing 2|. The bushing 35, the adjacent side wall of the housing 2|, and the intermediate ear 34 are provided with aligned, non-circular openings adapted to receive slidably a valve-operator 40 having a crosssectional shape similar to the shapes of the openings which slidably receive it. Conveniently, the operator 40 is a metal strip or bar of rectangular cross section. Adjacent the ear 34, the operator 46 is twisted through an angle corresponding to the angle through which the valve 26 is to swing. As a result, by moving the op erator longitudinally of itself to cause its twisted portion to pass through the ear 34, the valve is swung from one extreme position to the other. In so swinging, the valve pivots about the rivet or pin 35 and the bushing 36.

For the purpose of moving the operator 40 longitudinally of itself, I preferably employ a Bowden wire 42 which is connected to the outer-end of the operator 40 in any convenient manner and which extends through the conventional sheath 43 to a conveniently located remote control point. That end of the Bowden-wire sheath 43 adjacent the operator 40 may be anchored in ilxed position by attachment to a bracket 45 secured to and projecting outwardly from the housing 2|.

In the particular arrangement illustrated in the drawing the operator 40 is twisted between the ear 34 and the bushing 36, and outward movement ot the operator moves the valve 28 to its vertical position, as indicated in full lines in Fig. 4, such outward movement of the operator being limited by a pin 46 which extends through the operator in position to engage the intermediate ear 34 on the valve. As the operator is moved inwardly of the housing 2| from the position shown in the drawings, itsv twisted porhousings or conduits ot a wide variety of forms.

I claim as my invention:

In a device or the type described, a hollow duid-conducting member. a valve for controlling fluid ilow through the hollow member, said valve comprising a plate having aligned ears at its opposite ends and an intermediate ear between and aligned therewith, means co-operating with the end ears for pivotally supporting the valve from and within the housing, an extended valve operator coincident with and movable along the axis oi the valves mounting, said intermediate ear having a non-circular opening, said operator having a twisted portion of non-circular crosssection slidably and non-rotatably received in said opening, and means for preventing rotation of said valve operator as it moves along said axis.

EDMUND LUDLOW.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the lille of 4this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

